COURSES AND WORKSHOPS

Biography

Jake Wardle was born in the East End of London in 1992. From a young age he had developed a natural ability to perform and mimic accents, something that would later grant him widespread Internet fame.

It was at secondary school that Jake’s talent for acting was first recognised by teachers. Although initially shy and hesitant at the time, Jake was often put forward for lead roles in school plays. Jake was even selected to perform a lead role on a stage production outside of school called ‘A Step Too Farr’ at Stratford Circus theatre, where he played the role Private Harry Farr, a soldier who was executed for cowardice during the First World War. The audience was mesmerized by Jake’s performance and he received great praise. Jake went on to study a GCSE in Drama and achieved an A grade by the time he left school in 2009. Both teachers and students alike were frequently blown away by his performances.

Despite his enthusiasm and natural talent for acting, Jake had also developed an interest in video production as a whole and had started creating his own short videos on YouTube as a hobby. For this reason, he went on to study a BTEC National Diploma in Media Production at Newham Sixth Form College (NewVic) from 2009 to 2011. On this course he developed many skills including camera, sound and editing. However, he did not completely neglect acting during this time and frequently stepped in as an actor for both his own video production projects and those of his fellow students.

He also kept his YouTube channel active and in late 2010 he uploaded a video showcasing the various accent impressions that he had picked up over the years. His friends, family and others had frequently complimented him on his abilities at mimicking accents and so he decided to create a video performing all of them together to add to his channel. The video was titled ‘The English Language in 24 accents’ and went viral amassing just over two million views in the first week. The success of this video would continue to grow at an unstoppable rate and currently stands (as of Sept 2017) at over 27 million views. Despite the widespread attention his video received, Jake decided to remain grounded and focused on his education before making any commitments outside of college.

Whilst studying Media production at NewVic, he developed a strong interest in the video editing process. Jake went on to study a BA degree in Editing and Post Production at Ravensbourne University in 2011. Although his primary focus during these years of study was on editing, he still managed to star in a few student films both at Ravensbourne and NewVic (whom he still had ties with). He also did voiceovers for many university projects including the narration of his own visual dissertation on war films.

Alongside his studies Jake has uploaded a few short comedy sketches on YouTube, continuing to impress his fans with his abilities. His follow up accent video in 2012 ‘The English Language in 30 accents (Animated)’ though not as viral as his first, has still managed to amass over 2.4 million views (as of Sep 2017) and vastly positive comments and ratings.

During this time Jake also pursued an opportunity to narrate an audiobook entitled ‘Last Off’. Impressed with his successful accent videos on YouTube, the author of the book Laughton Chandler approached Jake by YouTube message. Jake then narrated the whole book and voiced all of the different characters with their various accents. The audiobook is for sale on iTunes, Audible and Amazon. This marked the official start of Jake's voiceover career.

Upon completing his studies at Ravensbourne in 2015, Jake released his latest video ‘The English Language in 67 Accents & Random Voices’ which has currently (as of Sept 2017) amassed over 3.9 million views and continues to receive great praise by both his regular fans and new viewers alike.

In November 2015 Jake returned to NewVic to be interviewed about his YouTube fame by a group of students for their documentary project about social media. It was here during a screening of the UK urban film ‘Brash Young Turks’ that he met award winning director Naeem Mahmood. Naeem was so impressed by Jakes abilities and YouTube success that he offered him a role in a short promotional parody audience reaction trailer for the film. This opportunity allowed Jake to play a diverse range of vastly contrasting characters as well as a narrator voiceover for the trailer. During filming Jake was recognised several times from YouTube by the crew and extras on set and was frequently complimented for his performance.

Whilst Jake was still at university, his original 2010 viral accents video caught the attention of highly acclaimed American director David Lynch, who promptly got in touch to discuss a potienital role for Jake in one of his upcoming projects. Jake then kept in regular contact with Lynch on Skype. In 2014 Lynch announced to Jake that he wanted to cast him in the upcoming return of his hit 90s TV show 'Twin Peaks'. This was to be Jake's big acting break, and in September 2015 production of the show began. In March 2016, Jake flew out to Los Angeles to film his scenes. The show aired on Showtime Networks (In the U.S) and Sky Atlantic (In the U.K & Europe) from May - September 2017. Jake's performance of the character Freddie Sykes in the show received great praise from fans worldwide.

Jake is continuing to build his performance career and is currently seeking out new acting and voiceover opportunities.